Drood’ is a merry musical

Tuesday

Nov 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 27, 2007 at 5:37 AM

If you like your winter holidays spiced with a bit of Charles Dickens but would rather something tasty other than the ghosts of Christmas Past, check out “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts.

Iris Fanger

If you like your winter holidays spiced with a bit of Charles Dickens but would rather something tasty other than the ghosts of Christmas Past, check out “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts.

Adapted for the stage from the author’s final but unfinished novel, this merry musical by Rupert Holmes takes us back to Victorian England and a cast of characters on a different sort of a quest.

In the six chapters Dickens published in serial form, he introduced the likable young gentleman, Edwin Drood, who disappears on the eve of his marriage to the innocent orphan, Rosa Bud.

The obvious villain of the story is Drood’s uncle, the opium-addicted, evil-looking choir master, John Jasper, also in love with Ms. Bud. However, in true Dickens-fashion, there are suspects galore from the preacher, Mr. Crisparkle, to the strange fallen woman, The Princess Puffer – a clutch of eccentrics with secrets to hide.

Holmes who wrote the book, music and lyrics for the show, which won Tonys for both Best Book and Best Score after its 1985 opening in New York, did not just adapt Dickens’ story, but framed it within the device of a “play within a play.”

From the top, Holmes introduces us to members of the second-rate, musical hall troupe that determines to present the theatrical world premiere of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” And since Dickens did not provide an ending, the question is posed about whether Drood is dead and, if so, which of the characters perpetrated the deed. The audience is called upon each night to vote, and whatever ending is chosen by the tally is performed, meaning Holmes provides alternate songs and action.

So while there are villains and suspects galore, motives trailing their hints through the dialogue, and all sorts of suggestive facial expressions, the backstage shenanigans of a motley bunch of prima donnas and aspiring matinee idols are woven into Dickens’ tale for the musical.

Holmes’s score is somewhat reminiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan, but lacks their clever lyrics and memorable melodies. No matter. Director Paul Daigneault sets the
passions-meter on high as he sends the performers through a large breach in the proverbial fourth wall that usually separates them from the viewers. David Connelly has provided sprightly choreography of the soft-shoe or step-kick-step style to enhance the
numbers.

Actors dressed in Gail Astrid Buckley’s brightly patterned gowns, complete with bustles and fringe, or tapestry vests beneath the suit-coats, prowl the aisles of the theater as the audience enters. The actors regularly leap from the stage to stalk the aisles during the show.Indeed, the lovely Erin Tchoukaleff, who plays Rosa Bud, spent one long song perched on the lap of the gentleman sitting next to me. (He did not object.)

The large cast includes many of the most proficient actor-singers based locally and some equally gifted students plucked from the musical theater program at Boston Conservatory, which regularly sends its graduates on to Broadway.

The evening is organized by a control-freak of a master-of-ceremonies, marvelously portrayed by Will McFarrahan, who misses neither a gag nor an opportunity to needle the audience.

Leigh Barrett, introduced as a leading actress of male drag roles, is inexplicably given the cross-dressing role of the title character, seemingly a waste until Act II when she reverts to her second character, the actress outraged at being forced from the spotlight after Drood disappears.

Michael Mendiola portrays John Jasper, the oily choirmaster, in suitable diabolical manner, while Kerry A. Dowling steals each of her scenes as the heart-rending but tough Princess Puffer, proprietor of the opium den.

David Knitt and Edward M. Barker are also standouts among the uniformly entertaining troupe.

Speakeasy Stage has mounted the production handsomely in a setting of an 1890s red-and-gold music hall, complete with false proscenium arch, side boxes where the actors rest when not on stage, and handsome backdrops designed by Jenna McFarland Lord, a professor at Stonehill College.

The sprightly backstage orchestra of six musicians is led by Dan Rodriguez, who also plays the keyboard.

“Edwin Drood” is a plum pudding of a Christmas treat, despite the kidding of the Dickens story and merely serviceable score, but seasoned to taste by the glittering talents of the cast.